Employer Ordered to Enroll Worker in LTD Plan

January 25, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A federal judge
in Utah has ordered that a Utah-based Coca-Cola bottler
retroactively enroll an employee in its long-term disability
(LTD) plan since it had not detected that the worker had not
properly enrolled on his own.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell of the U.S.
District Court for the District of Utah ruled that Swire
Coca-Cola, USA was a fiduciary and that it owed a duty to
plaintiff Scott Atwood to make sure he had properly
filled out the necessary paperwork to get into the LTD
program. The company had a duty to competently administer
the plan and maintain plan records, Campbell said.

“Swire’s handling of Mr. Atwood’s
request for benefits was not competent or prudent. For
this reason, the court finds that Swire breached its
fiduciary duty to Mr. Atwood,” Campbell
said. The court continued: “Swire accepted the obligation to properly administer
the Plan. As Plan Administrator, Swire established the
procedures for an employee to select coverage and for an
employee to be enrolled in a benefit plan. Swire hired a
professional Benefits Administrator and other staff to
carry out such duties. And Mr. Atwood properly relied on
Swire’s administrative capacity and
expertise.”

Campbell said that if it is ultimately
determined that Atwood is disabled and owed benefits
under the plan, it would be between Swire and the claims
administrator “to determine what course of action to
take.”

According to the court, Atwood, a fleet mechanic,
injured his wrist in May 2001 and met with Swire’s
benefits administrator to discuss the LTD benefits. At
this meeting, the benefits administrator noticed that
Atwood’s personnel file was missing two required
enrollment cards and permitted him to fill out the cards
at that time.

However, two years later, Atwood filed a claim for
benefits with the plan’s claims administrator who
denied the request on the grounds that he had not
enrolled in the plan within the plan’s deadlines for
enrollment.

Atwood sued Swire over the allegations of an
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary
breach, and asked for a court order to enroll him.